Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome to my blog! I use my blog as a way to reflect, share, organize, and re-conceptualize my views as an educator. Enjoy and feel free to comment, post, disagree, and share your opinion. The more perspectives, the better!


Saturday, June 11, 2011

Flexibility should be the new core value

TFA has a set of core values that are supposed to guide and drive every action in the program and in the classroom. The core values are things that I immediately accepted and embraced. They are things that I believe are critical for teachers (and really leaders of all professions). Here are our core values:

- Transformational change
- Leadership
- Team
- Diversity
- Respect and humility

What is missing? Flexibility! The need for and appreciation of your own and other's flexibility has been constant during induction. There have been time changes, path changes, and the everyday experience of people collaborating with one another. I personally have made a few changes in mindset and planning thus far. The biggest change was inspired by the need for MNPS to better serve students who are English Language Learners. I decided to open my assigned placement to an ELL/Elementary placement and was recently hired as a 1st grade teacher in a school that has a very high percentage of students who are English Language Learners. It was a major decision that had to be made quickly, but it is a decision that I am happy with. I am ready for this added challenge and thanks to some encouragement from a family friend and my mentor teacher believe I can be very successful as a teacher with children who are ELL.

My flexibility paid off...I am the newest first grade teacher at a school in MNPS! My school seems like it has a strong place in the community and our principal seems very open, supportive, and aware of what is happening in his school.

Getting a job is one giant piece in the "flexible" puzzle I am living right now!

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